The Global Span: Stability is Hard to Find

Morocco -- Word has arrived that Morocco has suspended judicial cooperation with former colonial power, France this week amid allegations of torture and human rights abuses. French police had been sent earlier this week to deliver a judicial notice to a Moroccan official at the ambassador's residence, but Moroccan officials say the French police conducted themselves in a provocative matter, and tension that has built over the past week has resulted in Morocco breaking diplomatic ties with France.

Ukraine -- Russia is massing troops on the Eastern edge near the border of Ukraine which Moscow has delicately labeled training and preparedness exercises Russian speaking Ukrainian nationals have seized Crimean parliamentary buildings and airports, raising the Russian flag on Ukrainian soil. The protests against the Yanukovych regime have run him out of town and he has released several statements insisting he is still the rightful leader of Ukraine. This as the fragile peoples' government is trying to unravel what happened to $70 billion in national funds. Many point the finger at Yanukovych who, in a time of economic trouble for Ukraine, lived in lavish homes, one of which included a private zoo, among other amenities.

As this story has unfolded, our attention has turned away from revolutionary former Prime Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko who was jailed by President Yanukovych for the same charge used to detain Uralkali CEO Baumgertner in a Belarus prison -- abuse of power. Most suspect that Yanukovych was merely trying to keep Tymoshenko from running for office and her prison sentence would have been up just in time for her to miss the next round of Ukrainian Presidential elections.

Tymoshenko's release was a condition of the association agreement with the European Union which Yanukovych pulled out of at the eleventh hour. Amid the protests, Tymoshenko was set free on February 22 and is now poised to finish what the Orange Revolution of the mid-2000's started. Tymoshenko's release is a highlight in what has been a long, frustrating winter for freedom seekers in Ukraine and many believe she will be the next president of Ukraine.

Egypt -- Egypt's Prime Minister and members of his cabinet abruptly resigned on Monday in a move that took watchers by surprise. Even still, speculation ranges wildly at the reasons the government effectively disbanded, and while a skeleton crew of former ministers are still in place to keep the country afloat, a new Prime Minister has been named.

Ibrahim Mehlib has taken the reins of power in Cairo and reports that he is working on naming a new government. Meanwhile, Egypt fears for its tourism revenues which have been slashed by ongoing violence which has included terrorism against travelers on vacation in Egypt.

But as Presidential favorite and Russian mollycoddle General Abdel Fatah el-Sisi watches his influence grow, he has sidestepped into deep water, introducing a device developed by military scientists that he claims can detect AIDS, hepatitis and other viruses, and cure them. This is way too weird to make up... The Guardian covers it well here. The outlandish claim has the Egyptian scientific community up in arms and may leave General Sisi with a domestic credibility problem, just in time for the election.